that is one 'unique' looking tele! LOVE the black binding with the mary kaye finish.

And don't tell anyone, but it IS a tele! Congrats and enjoy.

dave

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Bad pics, but the Binding is actually tortoise shell. I was playing too long and the sun was gone out in the back yard.

To top it all off, GC had a special going for LP Jr's through sunday. Buy anything $499.00 or more and buy an LP Jr for $29. I bought one for my son who's just learning $29.00. Yeah you can tell it's cheap, but the action and sound are actually pretty decent through my Deville and F30. It's still better than my first guitar. Worst case, raise the action up and use it for Slide.

Congratulations, Mav.
I also have a '98 Am Deluxe that I bought new 8 years ago, and it's my main axe. Very versatile and solid as a rock. Holds a setup forever and plays great. Can really cop a respectable strat tone as well in pickup positions 2 & 4.
I did eventually change the pickups after a few years, as I found that for me only the Noiseless neck pickup was decent. The Noiseless bridge pickups are either super dull and thin, or I got a dud. With 3 Fralin Blues Specials this guitar went to a whole different tonal level, since I always loved the neck and how the guitar felt in my hands.
BTW, in case you haven't figured it out yet, the mini-toggle adds the bridge pickup in two of the five pickup selector positions, effectively giving you 7 different combinations. When pickup selector is all the way forward (towards the neck) and the toggle is back (towards the bridge) you have only the neck pickup active. If you now flip the mini toggle forward, you have neck+bridge. Move the pickup selector back one position, keep the mini toggle back, and you have only neck+middle. Now flip the mini toggle forward and you have all three together.
For the other 3 positions the mini toggle has no effect. So regardless of the mini toggle postion, pickup selector in the middle=middle pickup only, back one position=middle+bridge, all the way back=bridge only.

Not to dis or rain on your parade, but with the Mary Kay finish and black binding, I think a black pearloid/MOT pickguard would be FANTASTIC on that guitar.

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I hear you Jim. But the Binding is really Tortoise Shell. I'll get some better in the sun pics up tomorrow.

In 98-99 Fender offered at least one other binding inlay color, Dual Binding with No Body Contour, White Pearloid with White Pearloid pickguard. The body color was slightly darker. I saw a pic of one the other day. Those look sweet as well.

Congratulations, Mav.
I also have a '98 Am Deluxe that I bought new 8 years ago, and it's my main axe. Very versatile and solid as a rock. Holds a setup forever and plays great. Can really cop a respectable strat tone as well in pickup positions 2 & 4.
I did eventually change the pickups after a few years, as I found that for me only the Noiseless neck pickup was decent. The Noiseless bridge pickups are either super dull and thin, or I got a dud. With 3 Fralin Blues Specials this guitar went to a whole different tonal level, since I always loved the neck and how the guitar felt in my hands.
BTW, in case you haven't figured it out yet, the mini-toggle adds the bridge pickup in two of the five pickup selector positions, effectively giving you 7 different combinations. When pickup selector is all the way forward (towards the neck) and the toggle is back (towards the bridge) you have only the neck pickup active. If you now flip the mini toggle forward, you have neck+bridge. Move the pickup selector back one position, keep the mini toggle back, and you have only neck+middle. Now flip the mini toggle forward and you have all three together.
For the other 3 positions the mini toggle has no effect. So regardless of the mini toggle postion, pickup selector in the middle=middle pickup only, back one position=middle+bridge, all the way back=bridge only.

Enjoy it!

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Thanks for the few other combo's I wasn't sure with the last few positions which pickups were actually in Serial. Yes the bridge is a bit thin, I had to roll off a little treble to get it where I liked it. My fave position is Neck, or Neck + Middle (Serial) so far. Just great tones out of this guitar.

I've been curious about the Fralin's. Especially for the bridge. I want it to be fatter to get some bottom end punch when I want it. How would you describe the Fralins? I know many have praised them.

I've been curious about the Fralin's. Especially for the bridge. I want it to be fatter to get some bottom end punch when I want it. How would you describe the Fralins? I know many have praised them.

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Louder, by a mile (again, I may well have had a bad Noiseless bridge pup--it was sooo much weaker/thinner than the other stock pups), snarly, a thicker edge to it, more bite. Also noisier since it's a "true" single coil as opposed to the "noiseless" version. Although I have the three pups wired so that bridge+neck or bridge+middle are hum cancelling. My particular model are the Blues Specials which are slightly overwound I believe. He makes other models that are hotter by varying degrees.
Of course at the end of the day the bridge pickup is for cutting through and for the twang, relying on a lot of brightness and top end for that. It also sounds very good overdriven. I personally love the bridge+neck for a balanced sound. I also find with Tele's when I'm on the bridge by itself, I tend to roll the tone back a bit to tame it.
Not sure how Fralins compare to other highly-touted replacement pups, but vs. the fender noiseless they are much more alive and full all-around.